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Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Who Killed the Black Dahlia?

WHO KILLED THE BLACK DAHLIA?

The Tragic Life & Death of Elizabeth
Short

On
this date, January 15, 1947, a housewife named Betty Bersinger left her home on
Norton Avenue in the Leimert Park section of Los Angeles, bound for a shoe
repair shop. She took her 3-year-old daughter with her and as they walked along
the street, coming up on the corner of Norton and 39th, they passed several
vacant lots that were overgrown with weeds. Bersinger couldn’t help but feel a
little depressed as she looked out over the deserted area. Development had been
halted here, thanks to the war, and the empty lots had been left looking
abandoned and eerie. Betty felt slightly disconcerted but then shrugged it off,
blaming her emotional state on the gray skies and the cold, dreary morning.

As she
walked a little farther along, she caught a glimpse of something white over in
the weeds. She was not surprised. It wasn’t uncommon for people to toss their
garbage into the vacant lot and this time, it looked as though someone had left
a broken department store mannequin there. The dummy had been shattered and the
two halves lay separated from one another, with the bottom half lying twisted
into a macabre pose. Who would throw such a thing into an empty lot?

Betty
shook her head and walked on, but then found her glance pulled back to the
ghostly, white mannequin. She looked again and then realized that this was no
department store dummy at all – it was the severed body of a woman! With a
sharp intake of breath and a stifled scream, she took her daughter away from
the gruesome sight and ran to a nearby house. Sobbing, she telephoned the
police.

It was
at that moment, with one telephone call, that one of Los Angeles’ greatest
unsolved mysteries captured the imagination of southern California and the rest
of America. The legend of the “Black Dahlia” painted a vivid and bloody picture
of a Hollywood story gone wrong. A young woman came west to find riches and
glory, but tragically, found her greatest fame in death.

The
emergency call was answered by Officers Frank Perkins and Will Fitzgerald, who
arrived within minutes. When they found the naked body of a woman who had been
cut in half, they immediately called for assistance. The dead woman, it was
noted, seemed to have been posed. She was lying on her back with her arms
raised over her shoulders and her legs spread in an obscene imitation of
seductiveness. Cuts and abrasions covered her body and her mouth had been
slashed so savagely that her smile extended grotesquely from ear to ear. There
were rope marks on her wrists, ankles and neck and investigators later surmised
that she had been tied down and tortured for several days. Worst of all was the
fact that she had been sliced cleanly in two, just above the waist. It was
clear that she had been killed somewhere else and then dumped in the vacant lot
overnight. There was no blood on her body and none on the ground where she had
been left. The killer had washed her off before bringing her to the dump site.

The
horrible nature of the case made it a top priority for the LAPD. Captain John
Donahoe assigned his senior detectives to the case, Detective Sergeant Harry
Hansen and his partner, Finis Brown. He also added Herman Willis, a bright
young cop from the Metro Division, to help follow up on the leads that were
sure to come in.

The
grisly crime scene where Elizabeth Short’s severed body was found in a vacant
Los Angeles lot.

By the
time the detectives were contacted and could get to the scene, it was swarming
with reporters, photographers and a crowd of curiosity seekers. Hansen was
furious that bystanders and even careless police personnel were trampling the
crime scene. Evidence was being destroyed, he knew, and he immediately cleared
the scene. Then, while he and his partners examined the scene, the body of the
woman was taken to the Los Angeles County Morgue. Her fingerprints were lifted
and with the help of the assistant managing editor of the Los Angeles Examiner,
the prints were sent to the FBI in Washington using the newspaper’s
“Soundphoto” equipment. The newspaperman had, of course, asked for information
in exchange for the use of the equipment.

Meanwhile,
an examination of the corpse was started at the coroner’s office. It began to
detail an incredible and horrifying variety of wounds to the young woman’s
body, although the official cause of death was “hemorrhage and shock due to
concussion of the brain and lacerations of the face.” An autopsy revealed
multiple lacerations to the face and head, along with the severing of the
victim’s body. It also appeared that the woman had been sodomized and her sexual
organs abused but not penetrated. There was no sperm present on the body and
most of the damage appeared to have been done after she was dead. Even the
hardened doctors and detectives were shocked at the state of the girl’s corpse.
The subsequent of newspaper coverage of lurid the case brought tips, calls and
false confessions pouring into police headquarters. More than 50 people would
eventually confess to the killing.

Shortly
after receiving the fingerprints, the FBI had a match for the Los Angeles
detectives. The victim of the brutal murder was Elizabeth Short, 22, who
originally came from Massachusetts. During World War II, she had been a clerk
at Camp Cooke in California, which explained why her fingerprints were on file.
Once the detectives had this information, they went to work finding out who
knew Elizabeth Short, believing that this would lead them to her killer. What
they discovered was a complex maze that led them into the shadowy side of the
city in search of a woman called the “Black Dahlia.”

Like
all the other pretty girls before and since, Elizabeth Short (who preferred the
name Beth) came to Hollywood hoping to make it big in the movie business. She
was smart enough to know that looks weren’t everything and that to break into
films, she had to know the right people. So, she spent most of her time trying
to make new acquaintances that she could use to her advantage and to make sure
that she was in the right nightspots and clubs. Here, she was convinced she
would come to the attention of the important people in the business. Beth’s
pretty face got her noticed. She had done some modeling before coming to
Hollywood and men couldn’t keep their eyes off her. She created a character for
herself, dressing completely in black, which emphasized her pale beauty.

Beth
Short in Hollywood

In
Hollywood, Beth roomed with a hopeful dancer who introduced her to Barbara Lee,
a well-connected actress for Paramount. Lee took Beth to all of the right
places, including the famous Hollywood Canteen, where Beth always hoped she
would be discovered. Beth loved to socialize, loved the Hollywood nightlife and
loved to meet men.

One of
the men who befriended Beth was Mark Hansen, a nightclub and theater owner who
knew many important show business people. He eventually moved her into his
house, along with a number of other young actresses who roomed there and who
entertained guests at Hansen’s clubs. On any given day, a visitor to Hansen’s
house could find a number of beautiful actresses and models sunning themselves
by the swimming pool. Beth soon became a part of this group, although her
prospects for film work remained non-existent. She didn’t have much of an
income and only seemed to eat and drink when others, usually her dates, were
buying. She shared rooms with other people and borrowed money from her friends
constantly, never paying it back. She never seemed to appreciate the
hospitality given to her by others, either, rarely contributing to where she
was living and staying out most of the night and sleeping all day. She became
known as a beautiful freeloader.

Around
this same time, the film “The Blue Dahlia,” starring Veronica Lake and Alan
Ladd was released. Some of Beth’s friends starting calling her “the Black
Dahlia,” thanks to her dark hair and back lacy clothing and the nickname stuck.
It fit well with the mysterious and glamorous persona that Beth had already
created.

Although
she is remembered today as the Black Dahlia, Elizabeth Short did not start out
as a sexy vamp who “haunted” the nightclubs of Hollywood. She was born on July
29, 1924, in Hyde Park, Mass. Her parents, Cleo and Phoebe Short, moved the
family to Medford, a few miles outside of Boston, shortly after Elizabeth was
born. Cleo Short was a man ahead of his time, making a prosperous living
designing and building miniature golf courses. Unfortunately, the Depression
caught up with him in 1929 and he fell on hard times. Without a second thought,
he abandoned his wife and five daughters and faked his suicide. His empty car
was discovered near a bridge and the authorities believed that he had jumped
into the river below.

Phoebe
was left to file for bankruptcy and to raise the girls by herself. She worked
several jobs, including as a bookkeeper and a clerk in a bakery shop, but most
of the money came from public assistance. One day, she received a letter from
Cleo, who was now living in California. He apologized for deserting his family
and asked to come home. Phoebe refused his apology and would not allow him to
come back.

Beth
(known as Betty to her family and friends) grew up to be a very pretty girl,
looking older and acting more sophisticated then she really was. Everyone who
knew her liked her and although she had serious problems with asthma, she was
considered very bright and lively. She was also fascinated by the movies, which
were her family’s main source of affordable entertainment. She found an escape
at the theater that she couldn’t find in the day-to-day drudgery of ordinary
life.

While
she was growing up, Beth remained in touch with her father (once she knew he
was actually alive). They wrote letters back and forth and when she was older,
he offered to have her come out to California and stay with him until she was
able to find a job. Beth had worked in restaurants and movie houses in the past
but she knew that if she went to California, she wanted to be a star. She
packed up and headed out West to her father.

At
that time, Cleo was living in Vallejo and working at the Mare Island Naval
Base. Beth hadn’t been staying with her father long before the relationship
between them became strained. Cleo began to launch into tirades about her
laziness, poor housekeeping and dating habits. Eventually, he threw her out and
Beth was left to fend for herself. Undaunted, she went to Camp Cooke and
applied for a job as a cashier at the Post Exchange. It didn’t take long for
the servicemen to notice the new cashier and she won the title of “Camp Cutie
of Camp Cooke” in a beauty contest. They didn’t realize that the sweet romantic
girl was emotionally vulnerable, though, and desperate to marry a handsome serviceman,
preferably a pilot.

Mug
shots that were taken after Beth’s only, minor run-in with the law.

During
this time, Beth had her only run-in with the law. A group of friends that she
was with got rowdy in a restaurant and the owners called the police. Since Beth
was underage, she was booked and fingerprinted, but never charged. A kind
policewoman felt sorry for her and arranged for a trip back to Massachusetts.
After spending some time at home, she came back to California, this time to
Hollywood.

At the
Hollywood Canteen, Beth met and fell in love with a pilot named Lieutenant
Gordon Fickling. He was exactly what she was looking for and she began making
plans to ensnare him in matrimony. Unfortunately, though, her plans were cut
short when Fickling was shipped out to Europe.

Beth
took a few modeling jobs but became discouraged and went back East. She spent
the holidays in Medford and then went to Miami, where she had relatives with
whom she could live for a while. Beth began dating servicemen, always with
marriage as her goal. She fell in love again on New Year’s Eve 1945 with a
pilot, Major Matt Gordon. A commitment was apparently made between them after
he was sent to India. Beth wrote to him constantly and Gordon remained in touch
with her. As a pre-engagement gift, he gave Beth a gold wristwatch that was set
with diamonds and spoke about her (and their engagement) to family and friends.
They would get married and have a proper honeymoon, he promised her, after he
returned from overseas.

Beth
went back home to Massachusetts and got a job, dreaming of her October wedding.
Her friends often commented on how happy she was and after the war ended in
Europe she became ecstatic about Gordon returning home. A short time later, she
received a telegram from Gordon’s mother. As soon as it arrived, Beth tore the
message open, believing that it was about plans for the upcoming wedding.
Instead, Mrs. Gordon had written, “Received word War Department. Matt killed in
plane crash on way home from India. Our deepest sympathy is with you. Pray it
isn't true.”

Tragically,
it was true and Gordon’s death left Beth a little unbalanced. After a period of
mourning, she began to pick up the pieces of her old life and started
contacting her Hollywood friends. One of those friends was former boyfriend,
Gordon Fickling, whom Beth saw as a possible replacement for her dead fiancée.
They began to write to one another and soon, Beth was in love with him again.
She agreed to come to Long Beach and be with him, happy and excited once again.
A short time later, Beth was back in California. The rekindled relationship
didn’t last long and soon Beth was single again.

In
December 1946, Beth took up “temporary” residence in San Diego with a young
woman named Dorothy French. She was a counter girl at the Aztec Theater, which
stayed open all night, and after an evening show, she found Beth sleeping in
one of the seats. Beth told her that she had left Hollywood because work was
hard to find due to the actors’ strikes that were going on. Dorothy felt sorry
for her and offered her a place to stay at her mother’s home. The invitation
was intended to last only for a few days, but Beth ended up sleeping on the
Frenchs’ couch for more than a month.

As
usual, she did nothing to contribute to the household and she continued her
late-night partying and dating. One of the men she dated was Robert “Red”
Manley, a salesman from Los Angeles with a pregnant young wife at home. They
saw each other on and off for a few weeks and then Beth asked him for a ride
back to Hollywood. He agreed and on January 8 picked her up from the French
house and paid for a motel room for her that night. They went out together to a
couple of different nightspots and returned back to the motel. He slept on the
bed, while Beth, complaining that she didn’t feel well, slept in a chair.

A
dramatic newspaper photo of Robert “Red” Manley, a salesman who had met Beth in
San Diego. Initially, he was the LAPD’s main suspect in the case but was
eventually cleared.

Red
had a morning appointment but came back to pick her up around noon. She told
him that she was going back home to Boston but first she was going to meet her
married sister at the Biltmore Hotel in Hollywood. Manley drove her back to Los
Angeles. He had an appointment at the home of his employer that evening, so he
didn’t wait around for Beth’s sister to arrive. Manley said Beth was making
phone calls in the hotel lobby when he saw her last, becoming, along with the
hotel employees, the last person to see her alive. As far as the police could
discover, only her killer ever saw her after that. She vanished for six days
from the Biltmore before her body was found in the empty lot.

The
investigation into the Black Dahlia’s murder was the highest profile crime in
Hollywood of the 1940s. The police were constantly harassed by the newspapers
and the public for results. Hundreds of suspects were questioned. Because it
was considered a sex crime, the usual suspects and perverts were rounded up and
interrogated. Beth’s friends and acquaintances were questioned as the
detectives tried to reconstruct her final days and hours. Every lead that
seemed hopeful ended up leading nowhere and the cops were further hampered by
the lunatics whose crazed confessions were still pouring in.

As the
investigators traced Beth’s activities, they discovered their strongest
suspect, Robert Manley. He became the chief target of the investigation. The
LAPD put him through grueling interrogations and even administered two
different polygraph tests, both of which he passed. He was released a couple of
days later but the strain on him was so great that he later suffered a nervous
breakdown.

While
the police worked frantically, Beth’s mother made the trip to Los Angeles to
claim her daughter’s body. Her father, who had not seen her since 1943, refused
to identify her. Sadly, Phoebe Short had learned of her daughter’s death from a
newspaper reporter who had called her, using the pretext that Beth had won a
beauty contest and the paper wanted some background information about her. Once
he had gleaned as much information as he could, he informed her that Beth had
actually been murdered

A few
days after Beth’s body was found, a mysterious package appeared at the offices
of the Los Angeles Examiner. An
envelope contained a note that had been cut and pasted from newspaper letters.
It read:

Here is the Dahlia’s Belongings –

Letter to Follow

Inside
the small package was Beth’s social security card, birth certificate,
photographs of Beth with various servicemen, business cards and claim checks
for suitcases she had left at the bus depot. Another item was an address book
that belonged to club owner Mark Hansen. The address book had several pages
torn out.

The
police attempted to lift fingerprints off the items but found that all of them
had been washed in gasoline to remove any trace of evidence. The detectives
then began the overwhelming task of tracking down everyone in the address book
and while Mark Hansen and a few others were singled out for interrogation, nothing
ever came of it. In addition, the promised “letter to follow” never arrived.

All of
the leads in the Black Dahlia case came to dead ends and the investigation
fizzled, and then came to a halt. Since the time of her death in 1947, many
books have been written and many theories have been expressed about who killed
Elizabeth Short. But no matter the number of theories, books and documentaries
on the case, to this date it remains unsolved. No one has ever been charged
with her murder and, as far as we know, her death has never been avenged. She remains an elusive mystery from the dark
side of Hollywood – and the even darker side of the American landscape.

Sadly,
Beth found the fame in death that she never managed to achieve in life.

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